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"For Gary Sloper, the training has been hard, but the decision to run the Boston Marathon was easy.When the Londonderry man learned that his family friend Louie Smirnioudis was suffering from cancer, he wanted to help.Sloper ran his first marathon in the fall and decided to set his sights on Boston to raise money for the Dana Farber Cancer Center, where Smirnioudis was being treated. Last summer, Smirnioudis was diagnosed with lung cancer and has been battling the disease since.Smirnioudis is the owner of the Windmill Restaurant in Concord. Every Thanksgiving, he opens his place to the homeless and hungry, providing free turkey meals with all the trimmings.Sloper's family has been close with Smirnioudis for decades. Sloper said he remembers going to the Windmill after games in high school and got to know what a good and caring person Smirnioudis is.Sloper said he has been training for the marathon since the end of December, running 40-50 miles per week. He said that every step of the way, he's thinking about Smirnioudis.Sloper has raised about $5,000 for Dana Farber, but he said he hopes his run also raises awareness about the disease.Donations can be made to Dana Farber at the Windmill Restaurant in Concord or at Sloper's website, garysloper.com, where there is a link to Dana Farber.The Boston Marathon will be held Monday."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.wmur.com/article/londonderry-man-runs-marathon-for-family-friend-with-cancer/5180786>